


While She Was Sleeping

by BatuuPrincess



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Ending, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Character Death, F/M, Fix-It, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-16
Updated: 2020-01-16
Packaged: 2021-02-27 09:47:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,356
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22235089
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BatuuPrincess/pseuds/BatuuPrincess
Summary: For the Damerey Daily 2020 prompt: Thinking that you can’t protect the ones you love, you have to hope they’re smart enough to save themselves.When Rey finds herself between life and death, she must choose to save herself.
Relationships: Poe Dameron/Rey
Comments: 30
Kudos: 125





	While She Was Sleeping

**Author's Note:**

> So this got away from the prompt a little, but I'm pretty happy with where it ended up.
> 
> Let's fix that kiss, shall we?

Rey woke with a gasp, eyes blinking in the early morning light. Slowly, the room came into focus, the same room she’d woken up in for the past 5,700 days. Give or take a few.

Her heart sunk. It was a dream, it was all a dream. She was back on Jakku.

But she had never really left, had she? She shook her head, trying to remember the dream. A stormtrooper, a round droid, some monster in a mask. It had all felt so real. Like she finally had a part in the greater story of the galaxy.

And it was only a dream.

One that slipped through her fingers the harder she tried to grasp it. Looking around her little walker, everything was exactly the same ( _exactly as you remember it,_ her still-befuddled mind supplied) from the scratches in the wall to the tiny pilot doll she’d made out of a scavenged flight suit.

A pilot. There had definitely been a pilot. And he was important; important to the galaxy, important to her.

She brushed off the thought. The pilot was nothing more than a figment of her overactive imagination, brought on by the sight of her own damn doll. 

A tear slid down her cheek, Rey swiping it away with a rough hand. Now she was being stupid. There was no one out there waiting for her, no one out there counting on her. Rey was the one who waited. She’d been doing it all her life.

Her eyes darted to the far wall, where the scratches tallied each day she’d been left waiting. She knew the number by heart, and it was high enough now that it broke her a little every time she saw it.

But, wait. She launched herself out of the hammock, feet tapping as she made her way across the durasteel floor. There were too many lines, an entire extra year scratched on the wall. Rey ran a finger over the newest marks, back, back until she hit a particular groove buried 393 deep. It was the last one she remembered making, at the end of a day cut short by her running out of water. A rookie mistake, and she’d had to accept a measly quarter portion because of it. 

She ran her finger back over the later markings. Why could she remember that day like it was yesterday, but none of the 393 since? Almost like something happened the very next day...

What had gotten into her? One dream and she was questioning her very existence. The sun was almost up and there were parts to scavenge and portions to earn. She couldn’t afford to sit around feeling sorry for herself.

So with a deep breath, she tore her eyes away from the wall, turning toward the door. “Come on, BB-8,” she said, stopping dead in her tracks.

BB-8? Who or what was BB-8?

She looked around the room as if said BB-8 would appear. It felt like a phantom limb, knowledge that was just always out of reach, yet still very much there. She gave herself three breaths in and out to compose herself, to move past the odd feeling, before grabbing her staff and getting on with the day. 

A blink of her eye later she was in the belly of the _Inflictor_ , mid-day sun streaming through various holes in the hull. It was brighter than usual in the middle of the ship, and eerily silent, not another being in sight despite the lateness of the hour. This place should have been crawling with fellow scavengers. Where did everyone go?

Her footsteps echoed as she moved through the seemingly empty space, but Rey wasn’t taking any chances. She reached to her belt for her weapon, but came up empty handed. 

WIth a shake of her head, she grabbed the staff off her back. Of course, there was nothing at her waist. She didn’t have a blaster. What weapon could possibly be hanging from her belt?

That strange feeling came over her once more, like she was missing something, a piece of her that was so ingrained, she couldn’t forget it if she tried.

Across the room, a soft blue glow caught her eye.

As she drew closer, the light grew, from barely a speck to something roughly the proportions of a loth-cat to the size of a full-grown human. The edges shimmered, materializing into the shape of a familiar man. 

He was older, hair and beard both overwhelmed by grey. The brown and tan robes he wore fell all the way to the floor, the inner layer crossed over his chest and held by a wide, leather belt. 

Though she would swear she’d never seen him before in her life, the man in front of her was as unmistakable as they came.

“Master Skywalker?” she practically breathed, the name coming to her out of thin air. 

“Rey.” The man smiled at her, the look transforming his grizzled appearance into a much more fatherly air. He opened his arms to her. “You did good, kid.”

Without thinking, she stepped into his embrace, half expecting to find only air and her imagination. 

The effect was instantaneous.

Flash after flash of that other life passed before her eyes, the year she couldn’t place filling with laughter and love and friends.

A small, round droid asking her for a place to stay.

A dark-skinned man in a stolen jacket extending his hand.

An old smuggler offering her a job.

A young woman showing her how to save what she loved.

A mother, a general, a princess sharing her grief. And her knowledge.

A handsome pilot looking at her like she was the answer to all the galaxy’s questions.

The heartbreaks and triumphs. The adventures. The little family she’d built from scraps and nothing. BB-8, Finn, Han, Rose, Leia. _Poe._ It all came back to her in a rush of overwhelming emotion. But that wasn’t the end of her story.

A throne and the man on it, her only living blood. An unlikely ally. The final word in the story of Skywalker.

A thousand generations lived in her now.

“It’s true. All of it,” she whispered, looking at him with tears in her eyes.

He nodded, a sad look on his face.

She looked around the empty Star Destroyer, to the slightly glowing man in front of her. “Is this a dream?” she asked, not sure if she wanted to know the answer.

Luke considered it for a moment. “Yes and no. Think of it as a world between worlds, a gateway through time and space. Here we are not past nor present nor future, but a little bit of everything in between.”

Her next question sat poised on her lips. She already knew the answer, but she needed to hear it from him. “Am I dead?” 

“Yes.” It was a simple answer for a straightforward question, but Rey’s heart sank regardless. She’d done everything that was asked of her. Palpatine was dead. The Final Order had been crushed. She’d been faced with nothing but darkness and still chosen light. And for all that, she’d paid with her life. 

In the rational part of her brain, she knew it was a worthy trade off. One life for the safety of the entire galaxy seemed like a small price to pay. But that life was her own, and selfishly, she wanted more time. 

_Rey!_

The voice echoed faintly through the belly of the ship. It was so achingly familiar that she looked up, confusion warring with grief in her gut. “What was that?”

Luke took a step away from her, eyes roving around the Star Destroyer skeleton. “This is where you grew up?”

Rey nodded. “More or less.”

“The galaxy was not kind to you, Rey from nowhere,” he said, his back to her. “And neither was I.”

“You guided me-”

He turned to face her with a swish of his robes, effectively cutting her off. “I sent you to your death. I told you to face Palpatine knowing what it would take to defeat him. And yet you still forgive me.” He shook his head, a sad smile playing across his lips. “The galaxy does not deserve you.”

Rey waited, sensing he wasn’t done yet.

“But the choice is yours.”

_Rey!_

Luke ignored it, so Rey did as well. “What do you mean, the choice is mine?”

“A difficult road lies ahead for you, Rey. Down on Exegol, your body waits for you, healed by my idiot nephew. I guess even a stopped chronometer is right twice a day.” He paused for her laugh. “All you have to do is take the leap.”

Rey looked around, shocked once more to find herself on top of a small platform, high above where the floor should be. But in the way of dreams, she couldn’t see the floor, just unending darkness waiting for her to fall.

“But it won’t be easy,” he continued, his expression grave. “Something like this leaves a mark on a person, and you’ll remember everything - the good and the bad. You’ll feel pain again. It will take time to heal.”

For the first time, it dawned on her that she _didn’t_ feel any pain. In fact, she didn’t feel anything. There was a lightness to her limbs that she’d never experienced in life. Though the last thing she remembered before closing her eyes and waking up here on Jakku was an agony so all-encompassing that she’d welcomed oblivion.

She swallowed thickly at that memory, turning back to Luke. “Or?”

His smile turned soft. “Or you can stay here with us and join the thousand generations before you. Become one with the Force and know true peace.”

_Rey!_

She turned toward the sound of the voice. Now, she realized it was coming from below, from the darkness that would lead her back to life. Distantly, she felt an ache in her limbs, her head, her heart, as if something was waking inside her. As if _she_ was starting to wake.

When she turned back to Luke, there was a look of resignation on his face.

“You already know my answer.”

This time, his smile was sad. “I do. But you can’t blame an old man for trying to save you from more pain.”

“And I’m grateful, I really am, but-”

“But you have people you love waiting for you. I know. I would have made the same choice had I been given one.”

Her heart broke for him. “Luke…”

He waved her off. “I knew what would happen if I showed myself on Crait. That was my decision to make. And I will never regret saving you and Leia and the rest of them.”

“What will happen to me? To you?”

“Well, should you take that leap, you’ll rejoin your body on Exegol. And I will rejoin the Force here.”

Rey was crying in earnest now. “Will I see you again?”

“Perhaps. Probably not like this.” He stepped forward, taking her into his arms once more. “But I’ll be there. And so will my sister, watching over you.” With an unspoken tenderness, he reached up to kiss her forehead.

Oh, how she had wished it had been him, that the mystery of her blood had ended with Skywalker and not Palpatine. 

And how she wished she could stay like this forever, but she could feel time running short. Pain was starting to bloom across her body, her head, her shoulders, her back. Phantom hands brushed over her skin, holding her up, shaking her slightly, even though she was standing still. And there was the voice, as insistent as ever.

_Rey!_

Luke chuckled. “It’s time, Rey. I think your pilot is getting a little antsy.”

Her pilot. The best pilot. A difficult man. Poe Dameron.

Images flashed across her mind’s eye.

Taking one look at his face and deciding she liked it. Witnessing his unbridled joy when he flew the Falcon for the first time. Watching as that face she liked grew closer and closer until their lips touched. Lying in his arms as the rain poured down just outside their little hidden cave on Ajan Kloss.

Reluctantly, she let go of Luke. He was right. She needed to get back.

“Goodbye,” she whispered, turning from him while she still had the courage to do so. 

She brought her toes to the edge of the platform and stared down into the abyss.

“Rey.” She turned to look at him over her shoulder. Soft blue lights appeared as he spoke, hundreds, then thousands, then more, materializing into beings of every species. She recognized some, not by face but through the Force. The generations of Jedi who came before her, the voices that helped her rise, finish what they had started so many years ago. But one stepped forward, her serene face one Rey would know anywhere. Leia. “We will be with you always, Rey Skywalker.”

Tearing her gaze away from them, she took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and jumped.

Rey opened her eyes, taking a great, gasping breath of the strange, staticky air. Everything hurt, from the steady pounding in her skull to the pulsing ache on the balls of her feet. Blinking, she brought the face in front of her in focus.

Terror and exhaustion were etched into every line of that handsome face, from the deep grooves of his brow to set of his jaw. Dark curls sat plastered to his forehead, like he’d just barely thrown off his helmet and run to her. She reached one hand up, sliding it over his beard-rough cheek. 

“Poe,” she breathed, her voice barely more than a whisper in the giant chamber. 

Tears streamed down his face, the look of hope splashed across his features so tentative it threatened to break her heart. “Rey! But you weren’t breathing, I saw-”

But Rey didn’t wait to hear what he saw, using what little strength she had to bring her mouth to his.

Rey channeled every ounce of hope and fear and love into that kiss and so did Poe, their mouths and emotions mixing until Rey wasn’t sure where she ended and Poe began. She had almost forgotten about her injuries until a wince sent Poe pulling back.

“You’re alive,” he said, smoothing back the hair from her forehead. His hand came away bloody. “Gods, how are you alive? I saw you in Ren’s arms and you were dead, I was sure of it. Your eyes..." he trailed off, a slight tremor passing through him at that recent memory. "He did that thing with the hand like you did on Pasaana, but nothing. A second later he was gone.”

For the first time since waking up, she looked around properly. Destruction covered every inch of the Citadel, fallen stone mixed with the remains of the various loyalists who had come to watch her die littering the ground. Far above them, missing chunks of the ceiling revealed the ongoing battle overhead. The remaining Star Destroyers didn't stand a chance against the gathered Resistance fleet.

And just to the side of Poe lay a dark sweater and pants, all that remained of Ben Solo.

Something adjacent to gratitude flooded her veins. He had helped her in those final moments, come back to try to save her even as his own body was failing. While nothing could make up for what he’d done to her, to the entire galaxy, a small part of her mourned for the man he could have become had he been given the opportunity to atone, to pay for his many sins.

“Ben healed my body, but he couldn’t save me. It was my choice. I had to do that on my own.”

“You had to save yourself? Rey, what the hells happened?’ Poe’s face crumpled in confusion, one hand coming up to cup her cheek. All of her senses were heightened, the gentle rasp of his callouses sending shivers down her spine.

Just then, an explosive crash rocked the Citadel, and possibly the planet itself. “I’ll tell you everything when we get back to base, but we’ve got to go.”

Poe helped her to her feet, her legs as wobbly as a newborn bantha as she took a step forward. She wobbled, Poe rushing forward to steady her.

It dawned on her as she looked up at his worried expression that he wasn’t even supposed to be on the ground. “Wait, why aren’t you in the air with the rest of the squadrons?”

“I felt something as soon as the Star Destroyers started coming down,” he said, an unreadable expression on his face. Rey swallowed thickly, reading between the lines. He had felt her die. “All I knew was that I had to get down here. Find you.”

Once again, she felt the overwhelming need to kiss him, and having just come back from the dead, decided not to deny herself that simple pleasure. She was alive, and there was no better way to show it than brushing her lips against Poe’s.

Another Star Destroyer crashed to the ground, sending them both stumbling on the rocky terrain.

“We better get out of here before one of those comes down on our heads. You okay to fly?” he asked, helping her walk toward their ships under the guise of an embrace.

Rey nodded, trying the next step on her own. “Yeah, just a little shaky.”

They made it in the air just as another ship fell from the sky, this time landing directly on what was left of the strange Sith temple.

From up here, it almost looked beautiful, the giants falling in slow motion while the much tinier rebel ships flitted to and fro, making quick work of what little remained of the Final Order.

Poe opened a channel to the rest of the fleet. “This is Black Leader and Red Five, reporting in.”

The comms erupted with voices both familiar and brand new.

“Glad to hear your voice, Black Leader.”

“General Dameron!”

“Is that Rey with you?”

“They made it!”

She could hear the smile in Poe’s voice as he issued the orders. “All fighters, return to base. Our work is done here.”

Cheers nearly deafened her before she flicked off the open channel. A second later a click in her ear brought Poe’s voice over a private line. 

“Let’s go home, Sunshine.” 

Tatooine was quiet in the late afternoon suns. 

Only the sound of the softly blowing sand kept her company as she slid down into the old Lars Homestead, partially reclaimed by the land. BB-8 was off watching the ship, the shifting sand in the abandoned homestead far too difficult for him to navigate.

So this was where Luke Skywalker had grown up. It wasn’t much, just this side of humble, but Rey could appreciate what it had been back when Luke lived here. A home. 

As the suns dipped lower in the sky, she knew it was time. Climbing out of the sunken courtyard, she found the right spot just to the side of the entry.

Rey released a breath as the twin Skywalker sabers disappeared into the sand. Peace. That’s all she felt as she stood and found herself face to face with a grizzled old woman.

“There’s been no one for so long. Who are you?”

She smiled at the old woman. “I’m Rey.”

“Rey who?”

It wasn’t the first time she’d been asked that question, and it certainly wouldn’t be the last. Even now, long after Exegol and everything that happened before, it was a tricky one. Who was she? Rey from Nowhere? Just Rey? The thought of calling herself Palpatine made her shudder. 

A curious tingle near her shoulder had her looking to the horizon. There, just barely visible in the fading light of day, stood Luke and Leia, their ghostly glow wavering just above the sand.

Luke’s final words to her in that world between worlds floated to the top of her mind as if placed by the man himself.

Smiling, she turned back to the woman. 

“Rey Skywalker.”


End file.
